Smith striving for pace improvement

Despite battling against problems with his bike in Qatar the British teenager still managed to get his season of to a points-scoring start with eight place, and will be aiming to kickstart his 2010 125cc title challenge in Japan.

The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar did not provide the start to the 2010 season that Bradley Smith would have expected or wanted with eighth place, but the 2009 125cc World Championship runner-up took the positive of having secured points in the face of some testing circumstances.

The Bancaja Aspar rider struggled with the set-up of his Aprilia machine throughout the weekend, encountering issues that he and his team worked hard to correct for the race. After a strong start from the third row of the grid Smith managed to ensure he finished in the points, and is looking to build on that when the 125cc riders meet again for round two at Motegi on April 25th.

"It is disappointing to be riding at the limit and only have the chance of eighth place. That's the situation we found ourselves in though this weekend,” said Smith in review. “The team worked incredibly hard over the weekend to try and best prepare my bike for the race, despite some problems, but it just wasn't competitive enough to be up there with the lead group.”

Eighth place may not have been satisfying for a rider who pushed for the title last season, but Smith took heart from the fact that he had secured valuable points.

“We have to be content, because it was a tricky weekend and we've still got eight points from the race,” he stated. “Eighth isn't a position I'd like to be in too often, but it's the first race of the year and we have to continue working in an optimistic fashion in order to be as fast as we were last year."